Tuesday, January 11 2005 14:58 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Islamabad: Dismissing speculation on their return, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has said former Prime Ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif, who were living in exile abroad, would not be permitted to come back home.

"One thing is clear that these two, (Bhutto and Sharif) will remain outside" the country, Musharraf told Geo TV in an interview while brushing aside reports that their possible return was part of a deal negotiated by his Government with them to achieve national reconciliation.

On his recent phone conversation with Nawaz Sharif, whom he deposed following a military coup in 1999, Musharraf said he recently spoke to Shabaz Sharif, brother of Nawaz Sharif over the phone, "purely on humanitarian grounds" to condole the death of their father.

Musharraf said he spoke to Nawaz Sharif despite his reservations, as the former Prime Minister was responsible for "hijacking" the plane in which he travelled from Colombo to Karachi in October 1999 before the military coup.

He said that Sharif went into exile on his own after reaching a deal and was not sent forcibly. The TV footage taken when Sharif reached Jeddah showed how happy and relieved he was, the President said.

About Bhutto, he said she went into self-exile abroad well before he took over power in 1999.

Musharraf's comments followed claims by senior Government Ministers of efforts to reach a national reconciliation to bring Pakistan out of the present political crisis.